Richard Farleigh Launches Book

Here's a name that many in the NSW chess circle will surely remember: Richard Farleigh. He was joint winner of the 1978 NSW junior chess championship with Steven Kerr.

But Farleigh made his name, not in chess, but in financial investments. Today he enjoys legend status in the financial community. At age 34, he made enough money to retire in Monaco.

For those of you wanting to follow in Farleigh's footsteps, the great man has put his ideas to paper. You can learn all about them in the new book "Taming the Lion - 100 Secret Strategies for Investing Success".

In this brief profile appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald, chess gets a mention.

It was only years later when he discovered an aptitude for chess that he gained some confidence in his intellectual ability and went on to gain honours at the University of NSW and a Reserve Bank scholarship. Eventually he was to represent Monaco in international chess.

Mr Farleigh also has website.

Rogers Win July Tourney

Details are yet to be confirmed but we've been informed that GM Rogers was victorious in the NSWCA July Weekender held at the Parramatta RSL. He scored 6.5/7 points. His only draw was against IM-elect George Xie who reportedly came very close to winning their individual encounter.

Xie settled for 5.5 points along with a group of other players.

Cebuano IM Takes First

This is a piece of news that I've been meaning to post. Being from the island provice of Cebu, I am very glad to share this news of international master Joseph Sanchez.

Paris-based Sanchez last week finished in shared first place at the 5th International Open in Condom, France. He collected 7 points out of 9 games.

Condom Open
Sanchez, Joseph
Cioara, A.
C18

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. b4 cxd4 7. Nb5 Bc7 8. f4 Bd7 9. Nf3 Bxb5 10. Bxb5+ Nc6 11. O-O Nge7 12. Bd3 a6 13. Kh1 Bb6 14. Qe2 Rc8 15. Bd2 g6 16. a4 Nf5 17. a5 Ba7 18. Rfb1 O-O 19. b5 axb5 20. Rxb5 Qe7 21. Bxf5 exf5 22. Rab1 Rc7 23. Rxd5 Rd8 24. Rdb5 Rdd7 25. Be1 h6 26. Bh4 Qe6 27. Bf6 Ne7 28. Qe1 Kf8 29. a6 Qc6 30. e6 1-0

Here is a report from Marlon Bernardino.

ACF Shuns New Forum

Score one to the Australian Chess Federation. The national chess body has just denied Matthew Sweeney's request to have his new initiative, the Australian Chess Club Forum, to be advertised in the ACF's weekly newsletter.

Sweeney's small band of followers, so far numbering a dozen or so registered users, have adopted a pragmatic approach in response to the ACF's denial.

One poster from the state of Victoria said, "ACCF does not [yet] have a track record that demonstrates its value to the chess community. Rather than calling for [the ACF] to endorse this board, I would recommend we focus on our knitting and let the kudos fall where they may."

So far at least the new forum seems to be in a, shall we say, sane state of affairs. The Australian Chess Federation's forum of choice, Chess Chat, on other hand, is currently plagued by constant bickering, discussions of Mid-east politics, beer and Jesus Christ and TV scheduling. There is even a thread devoted to mild pornography* called "Cute Girls". The thread contains images of scantily clad women.

At least three ACF officials are regulars of Chess Chat including no less than ACF boss Denis Jessop.

NOTE: * As pointed out by our anonymous friend, there are no naked pictures in the aforementioned thread. But I still characterise it as "mild pornography".

Confusion Over Jessie's Death

There seems to be confusion over Jessie Gilbert's death. Quoted by the UK's The Independent, Susan Lalic discounts suicide:

I don't believe that it could have been suicide. Even if the claims are true, there is no way it is something Jessie would do.

She had her whole life before her. Jessie was a real fighter. She was bubbly, clever and considerate. I don't think she would have done this to her family on purpose.

However, a report in The Guardian still maintains the suicide angle. The paper is relying on statements made by Czech police. A local police inspector was quoted:

We found quite a lot of medication, a lot of vitamins and then things we could not tell what it was until they were examined by medical people and they found they were antidepressants. They were in her name. We think she may have had psychological problems. It could have been an accident. But there are several factors which suggest she probably jumped.

Aside from the main story of Jessie Gilbert's death, there has also been the occassional mention of Jessie's drinking spree with her 14-year old room-mate Amisha Parmar. I wonder, is this sort of thing common amongst under-age chess players, especially those who travel overseas, away from the supervision of their parents?

July Chess in Parramatta

Fifty players turned up this morning at the Parramatta RSL club to compete for the $500 first prize. Top seed is GM Ian Rogers followed by IM-elect George Xie. They were joined by a group of 2000+ rated players: Tomek Rej (2209), N. Wright (2108), Andrew Bird (2099), ex-Aussie Junior Champion Paul Broekhuyse (2058) and Ronald Yu (2043).

Not an impressive turn-out. Maybe that's why the first round was nearly an hour late. It seemed to me that the organisers were trying to wait for more players to turn up. Even I was asked if I was playing. Nope, sorry, I had to say. Sadly, I have to do some work on Sunday.

The venue. Poor lighting.

After 4 rounds of play, GM Rogers leads on 4 points. In round 3, Rogers essayed his Benko Gambit against Broekhuyse. It is an opening that the Aussie number one trots out every now and then against weaker opposition.

The event concludes tomorrow.

There was a time when I hated going to the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The train station was ugly and its immediate surroundings were hardly inviting. You walk around the place and you think, any moment now someone will mug you.

But this morning, I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. What have they done to the place, I wondered.

The train station is freshly renovated and it all looks very world class. Gone is that horribly gloomy all-brick 50's style architecture and replaced with a more airy and modern approach that is reminiscent of today's airports. Everything is very well done.

The Parramatta main street. Looking good!

There is now an underground walkway that connects the station to the main Westfields shopping centre - just perfect for those rainy days. And naturally, businesses have also come flocking. Fancy restaurants now line the main street leading up to Wesfields. I had lunch here: risotto accompanied with a nice Saltram Shiraz.

All this bodes rather well for Brian Jones'Sydney International Open in 2007. Parramatta is the perfect venue. Like most Sydney chessers, I can't wait. Let's hope that Mr. Jones finds a sponsor soon.

Chess, cappucino and cake

Jessie's Story Worsens

UK papers are reporting that Jessie Gilbert's father may have sexually abused her. This from the Daily Mail:

But her life had been thrown into turmoil after her father was charged with raping her. Czech police captain David Krkada said: 'She was afraid and had bad feelings about it.' As part of the police inquiry, she will have been interviewed by detectives in a 'rape suite' and given them a statement - probably videotaped - in connection with the allegation.

I was at the NSWCA July Weekender today and this very sad story of Jessie's death was the topic of conversation. It appears that she had plans to visit Australia earlier in the year for both the Australian champs as well as the Queenstown event in New Zealand. Those plans fell through apparently due to family reasons.

Chess Prodigy Falls to Death

Tragedy has struck the Czech Open. Nineteen-year old Jessie Gilbert reportedly fell off the window of her hotel in Pardubice. Her body was found by the police the next morning.

Links
Guardian: Leading young chess player falls to death
BBC News: Chess prodigy, 19, falls to death
English Chess Federation announcement

Wojtkiewicz and the Pinoy Connection

Filipino chess columnist Bobby Ang pays a tribute to GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz who died earlier this month.

Sweeney: Bolens and Xie Happy

An anonymous poster accused Sydney chess organiser Matthew Sweeney of being dishonest. The charge is to do with allegedly unpaid advertised prize money. This is Mr Sweeney's response:

There were our own local club players and two Sydney players (one an IM) who turned up to the two-day swiss with a $500 first prize – one of the Sydney players arriving after close of entries.

The club president and I decided that under the circumstances, that the two day event should be *cancelled* and a new 8 player, one day rapid round robin should replace it. I put my hand in *my* pocket and gave a total of $300 cash as appearance money to the two Sydney players. Both were very happy with that. They went on to win 1st $100 and 2nd $50 Both Bollens and Xie were happy with the outcome for their 4 hours of chess and the cancellation of second drive to and from Sydney for day two. In fact, Xie said to me he would love to come back next year, as did Bollens. Xie also posted a thanks on Chess Chat.

If anon with the half and slurs wants to be a man, and not like a particular backstabbing maggot we all know, let him say these things to me in person, in public, so people can see him get a dressing down fit for filth.

Matthew Sweeney